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Miami Subs launching new brand, Miami Grill, with big expansion plans

CEO Richard Chwatt (cq), left, and executive vice president Evan Friedman at The New Miami Subs Grill in Wilton Manors on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014. Amy Beth Bennett, Sun Sentinel
Amy Beth Bennett / Sun Sentinel
CEO Richard Chwatt (cq), left, and executive vice president Evan Friedman at The New Miami Subs Grill in Wilton Manors on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2014. Amy Beth Bennett, Sun Sentinel
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The problem with one of South Florida’s most iconic restaurant chains is that people don’t know it still exists, its CEO says.

Those who grew up eating Miami Subs’ Philly cheese steaks and chicken wings now probably say, “I loved Miami Subs, but I thought they went out of business,” said Richard Chwatt, CEO of the Fort Lauderdale-based chain.

At its prime, the chain had about 200 restaurants as it expanded nationally and internationally. Now, it’s down to about 40, most of the locations in and around South Florida.

Its founder, Konstantinos “Gus” Boulis, opened the first shop in 1988 in Key West. Boulis, who was killed in 2001 over control of the SunCruz Casino boat fleet, sold Miami Subs to Nathan’s Famous a few years before his death.

Nathan’s sold it to Miami Subs Capital Partners I Inc., now led by Chwatt. The group is ready to bring the company back to the spotlight, this time with a new name, Miami Grill.

The new Miami Grill restaurants will offer customers a menu that includes more heart-healthy options, such as hot and cold subs served on multigrain bread, Caesar salads and tilapia, in addition to the chain’s tried-and-true favorites such as chicken wings and cheese steaks.

Beer and wine will still be available and, of course, Dom Pérignon champagne — an out-of-the-ordinary Miami Subs menu staple.

The new restaurants are outfitted with sleek, modern furniture and include charging stations for mobile devices and flat-screen TVs on the walls.

“I saw that Miami Subs was losing its way. It was an old brand, a tired brand,” said Chwatt, who became the company’s CEO in 2010. “It wasn’t going anywhere.”

It’s going somewhere now. Chwatt and his group are taking Miami Grill worldwide. The company has signed deals with area developers to open more than 275 Miami Grill restaurants globally, including some in Myanmar, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.

In the U.S., the first Miami Grill is expected to open within a week in Cutler Bay in Miami-Dade County. About eight more are expected to open by the end of the year throughout Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Five of those will be new locations and three will be former Miami Subs stores turned into Miami Grill restaurants.

“North Broward, south Palm Beach County are areas we need to do better in,” Chwatt said.

Chwatt has enlisted Boca Raton-based commercial real estate broker A. Tom Prakas to find locations for Miami Grill, from Key West to Orlando.

Prakas is scouting different types of spaces for the chain, including strip malls, lifestyle centers, standalone locations with drive-thrus and airports. He’s also handling franchise sales for Miami Grill.

In 2010, the original Miami Subs restaurants were renamed as The New Miami Subs Grill. There are five in Palm Beach County and 17 in Broward County.

The name modification was a way to tell customers that the chain was under new management and that changes were coming, the company said. Service and operations improved and the company also began transitioning from the quick-service concept to fast casual.

Though some restaurants still have the old Miami Subs signs and look, some have updated their appearance. About a dozen The New Miami Subs Grill restaurants have gotten a chic makeover within the past year.

It’s helped boost sales, Chwatt said.

Company-wide, same-store sales in June were up 7.42 percent from June 2013, according to the restaurant chain.

Going forward, there will be two brands — The New Miami Subs Grill and Miami Grill — and both will serve the same menu and tout updated, modern looks.

Current franchise owners are under agreement to “at some point” change their name to Miami Grill and to upgrade their look, menu and concept. That’s a process that may take years to complete, Chwatt said.

The company also plans to eventually introduce two more brands: Miami Grill Express, smaller Miami Grill locations with limited, express menu options and OH! Miami Grill (OH! MG), serving a tapas-type menu. Opening dates for those types of restaurants were not available.

In 2012, popular rapper Armando Christian Perez — better known as Pitbull — became an equity partner in The New Miami Subs Grill.

“If you know Mr. 305, you know he’s also Mr. Worldwide,” said Chwatt, smiling as he said Pitbull’s other nicknames. “Part of our attraction for one another was going worldwide.”

Chwatt hopes that partnership will attract younger customers and freshen the chain’s image as a hip, cool place to eat.

“Pitbull appeals to that millennial generation that’s between 22 and 37,” said Darren Tristano, executive vice president at Technomic, a food service industry research and consulting firm based in Chicago. “He could make it a little more relevant with his involvement.”

On a recent lunch trip to a remodeled restaurant on Wilton Manors, Vernell Butler paid about $7 for a soda, fries and chicken wings.

“This is what everyone started to come here for,” she said pointing at her meal.

Butler, 44, said she’s been a Miami Subs customer since its early days, eating over the years at some of the company’s restaurants near her Fort Lauderdale home.

“I’ve noticed they’ve reinvented the menu, like they’re trying to step up to the competition,” she said.

mvalverde@tribune.com

INFOBOX

Company-wide, same-store sales in June were up 7.42 percent from June 2013.

The rapper Pitbull is now an equity partner.

The company has signed deals to open more than 275 Miami Grill restaurants globally, including some in Myanmar, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.